Learning Your Opponent
by lockheedelektra
Summary: During the month after the preliminary round, Tenten goes to visit Lee in the hospital. She never expected to see Temari there, and she certainly didn't expect to see that look on her face. Oneshot, no pairings intended. Rated for language.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own the anime Naruto or any characters that you recognize here. I am merely their humble servant.

It's my first time over here in the Naruto section, and I don't think anybody's tried anything quite like this before, so... I thought I'd give it a shot. It's _not _romance, which is an odd twist for me, but variety is the spice on my steak dinner, after all. Hope you enjoy it.

-LE (lockheedelektra)

* * *

Tenten smashed her fist against the wall of the hospital, her forehead coming to rest on the plaster with less ferocity than her hand had. She gritted her teeth, fingers already itching to whip some very sharp, pointy projectiles at a very yielding and well-worn target. It was a well-honed response to stress. When you're pissed, you train.

She closed her warm brown eyes and forced herself to relax. Shinobi do not show emotions. Shinobi do not fly off the handle without completely analyzing the situation. Shinobi do _not_ start fights with foreign ninja who dare to enter her teammate's hospital room and act like they're sorry…

Tenten snarled, her outrage building once more. Her eyes opened and her gaze fell on the scroll that was strapped to her hip. _Lee's present._

The ink painting of a lotus was simple and hardly museum-worthy, but somehow she'd thought of Lee when she saw it. More often than not, Konoha's Green Beast annoyed the hell out of her, but she could admit that she should have treated him with more kindness. She wanted to… make it up to Lee, in any way she could. Try to ease the pain a little. His fight with Sabaku no Gaara had made her realize how quickly a person's dreams—or worse, their life—could be ripped from them.

Of course, her own fight had made her aware of her own mortality, too…

The smirking face of her opponent flashed in her mind, and Tenten pushed off the wall, determined not to let her anger overtake her again. She was going to march into Lee's room, hang this painting, and damn whatever Temari said to her. The blonde from Sunagakure had already bested her in combat—Tenten would _not_ allow her any victories in her day-to-day life.

But as Tenten stormed back down the hall towards Lee's room, the door opened and Temari herself stepped out. Tenten's step faltered at the look on her face; the blue-eyed girl actually looked genuinely regretful.

Then Temari whipped her head in Tenten's direction, and her expression was back to the arrogance that bordered on bitterness. Her left hand went to her hip as she regarded Tenten with a glare. "What?"

The brown-haired girl steeled herself and presented a glare of her own, though somehow it didn't seem as effective. She couldn't help the slight inflection that her anger put into her voice. "What were you doing in Lee-kun's room?"

"It's a free country, isn't it?" Temari tilted her head, looking down her nose at Tenten with a cocky grin. "None of your business."

"Excuse me if I disagree."

Temari raised an eyebrow, as though she was amused at this little girl's futile attempts at intimidating her. She said nothing, though, and Tenten found herself slightly tongue-tied. She was fairly skilled at turning a person's retorts against them, but she wasn't nearly as proficient with silence. Searching for any ammo that she could use against Temari, Tenten found nothing. Zip, zero, nada. The only thing that she could effectively utilize was a long shot, too long a shot for Tenten's ordinary comfort zone. Tenten was certain that it wouldn't hit the target with anyone else. She wet her lips.

_Well, that's why my aim's perfect, ne?_

"I think it becomes my business when the teammate of the person who attempted to kill my friend is seen in their hospital room looking like their kitten was killed. I'll ask you again: what were you doing in Lee-kun's room?"

Temari's façade flickered, just enough to show that the statement had hit a tender spot. Tenten tried to keep her grin from overtaking her face. _Bull's-eye._

The blonde's signature expression was back on her face instantly, and Tenten had to mentally congratulate her on her swiftness. "I don't owe you any answers."

"What's the matter?" Tenten responded, her confidence taking root again. "Are you scared to tell me?"

Tenten noted with a dark glee that Temari's fist had clenched at her side, though her features had shifted into a perfect, mask-like poker face. Suddenly, her muscles relaxed, and Temari regained her hand-on-hip, unaffected posture.

"Nice try. I suppose this is your sad attempt at revenge for our match. But I'm not so stupid as to be baited by someone that I beat the crap out of."

Tenten's eyes widened briefly, and she felt her rage boil up again. The _nerve_—! The brunette could acknowledge when someone was stronger than her (the fight had actually fueled her to train even harder), but bringing up her smashing defeat at the hands of Temari wasn't easing her anger. Closing her eyes, she let her emotions boil over and hissed her next words through her teeth.

"You think this is about our stupid _match_? You're more self-centered than I thought."

Before Temari could spit out a retort, Tenten raised her head, righteous fury blazing in chocolate eyes. "Who the _hell_ do you think you are? Did you think that you could waltz in here and do the regretful act, that we could make nice and be friends? You don't know Lee, so don't you dare disrespect him with your fake sympathy!"

Tenten somehow recognized through the haze of anger that Temari had a look of shock on her face; the look faded as Tenten's temper petered out, and the blue-eyed kunoichi gave a low laugh that sounded far too bitter and jaded for a girl of 14.

"Well, I'm sorry that it seemed fake."

And with that, she spun on her heel and strode away from Tenten, towards the stairs. As she reached the top of the stairwell, she paused, then turned to look over her shoulder. Tenten stared her straight in the eye, and her resolve softened as she saw a strange expression in Temari's sapphire irises. During the entire duration of their fight, Temari had never shown anything past a cold, borderline cruel confidence.

But now there was that same silent regret as when she came out of Lee's room.

"He's a good person, you know. Your friend. If things were different, he could have been a great ninja."

Tenten said nothing as Temari's footsteps echoed through the stairwell. Her anger was fading, being replaced by puzzlement over Temari's statement. The kunoichi from Suna had spoken honestly, not a trace of sarcasm or false emotion in her words.

The brunette exhaled loudly through her nose. She'd been genuine the whole time, dammit. She had actually felt sorry for what had happened to Lee.

Tenten began to re-think her judgments of Temari in light of this new information. One thing she couldn't deny—the other girl was a truly a complex character. It would take many battles—_or many years of friendship_, a small part of her mind echoed—to be able to find out what made her tick. But if Temari was the kind of person who would visit a stranger out of genuine sadness, Tenten figured that it might be worth it.

_Temari-san… Be it in rivalry, or by some twist of fate, friendship, I know I'll learn a lot from you. _

She pushed open the door to Lee's room.

* * *

I apologize if Temari seems a little OOC, it's my first time writing her. I do think there's more to her than some people give her credit for, and Tenten doesn't get enough attention in the series, so I liked writing this little number. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


End file.
